AAVIT participated in the IT for Ukraine event

This morning, a unique event under the aegis of the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization Ivan Bartos called IT for Ukraine took place at the Government Office on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Representatives of AAVIT and its selected members were present at the event as long-term supporters of the Ukrainian IT sector. The aim was to review the assistance that representatives of the private and non-profit sectors have provided to Ukraine in the field of IT to date and to extend suggestions on how this assistance could be further intensified and optimized in the future. Naturally, this was a welcome opportunity for AAVIT to raise awareness of the Laptops for Ukraine initiative and to connect with interesting people from the Czech IT community and public administration.

AAVIT Director Jaromír Hanzal presented the practical aspects of donating IT equipment within the Laptops for Ukraine initiative. He mentioned the main barriers that can currently complicate donation. In addition, he explained the political background of the initiative and AAVIT’s involvement in the context of previous activities in support of Ukraine, which began in the first months of the Russian aggression. Finally, he set out an ambitious goal that we would like to achieve in the equipment collection and appealed to the participants of the event to help promote the collection or actively participate as donors.

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Bartos thanked all those who are actively involved in IT assistance to Ukraine. He summarized what has been achieved in the past year and mentioned that Ukraine can serve in some respects as an inspiration and an example for good practice. For example, in the area of eGovernment, the Ukrainians are quite far along and the day-to-day problems resulting from the state of war have greatly accelerated this progress. His words were followed by the Ukrainian Chargé d’Affaires Vitaly Usatyj, who highlighted the most needed technologies and their importance for both war and civilian purposes. Other speakers included Tomas Kopecny, the Government Commissioner for Reconstruction of Ukraine, representatives of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic, several prominent companies and representatives of several non-profit organizations. They are particularly active in the issue of increasing IT competences of Ukrainians who are trying to join the workforce in the Czech Republic.

We believe that the efforts invested in helping Ukraine will soon pay off through an end to the war conflict on terms acceptable to the invaded state. In the meantime, thank you for your support.